Our trip began with a 4AM wake-up and drive to the
Malpensa airport north of Milan to catch the 7AM charter flight
to Marsa Alam on the Red Sea two thousand miles south. In spite
of our well planned and early departure from home, we had some
excitement before the flight trying to follow the tour operator's
instructions to the long term car park. Even with a map we got
lost and drove around for several minutes before seeing a van
from the parking lot we were looking for and following it back
home. We were booked through an Italian tour operator thus become
part of their group at the airport which even at 6AM was teeming
with vacationers waiting for their flights.
The four hour flight from Milan to Egypt took us down the Italian
boot, across the Mediterranean and about half way down the west
shore of the Red Sea to Marsa Alam. The airport, open less than a
year, is quite modern and attractive, and will likely be the
reason for rapid development of the tourist business along the
middle and southern sections of the Egyptian Red Sea coast. As we
motored north along the coast to our hotel we noticed no less
than ten resort hotels either completed or under construction.
With the exception of these new constructions and the occasional
military buildings, this coast line is essentially untouched. The
highway is new and nearly empty, but give it ten years and it
will likely be quite different. The only town we saw during our
one hour and forty-five minute transit was El Quseir, a sleepy
fishing port, that looks like it has seen better days.
One notices right away the number of well armed police and
soldiers along the highway. Periodically the bus passes through
checkpoints with a wave, but you notice that security must be a
concern along this stretch of highway and remember the bus attack
in 1998 when several Germans were killed near Luxor by a
terrorist group ambush. The last thing the Egyptian government
wants is another incident to scare away the tourists.
Finally we arrive at out hotel, the Flamenco Beach Resort. It is
a only three years old and probably one of the first to open
along this section of the Red Sea coast. Sitting directly on the
beach it almost seems out of place in the stark surroundings of
the Arabian desert where a rain once every four years is about
normal. Nothing grows that isn't irrigated so the hotel is a
virtual oasis. The friendly staff is right there to help us to
our rooms and we begin to relax in the pleasant surroundings and
comfortable temperature of winter time Egypt. The daytime high is
about 25 C. (77 F.), but dips to about 10 C. (50 F.) in the
clear, cool evenings. Even so the ocean temperature maintains
about 22 C. (72 F.) so swimming is always comfortable without
thermal protection. Even Santa has managed to find his way here,
and the hotel is in full Christmas décor complete with windows
painted with snow flakes even though the decorators most likely
have never seen the real thing.
The first and most important thing we must do is schedule the
activities for our week. This proves to be a bit of a challenge
as all the other folks are competing for the attention of the
guide services which provide the transportation and guides for
the tours to points of interest. We got lucky with finding a tour
to Luxor immediately, but had to really work to get on a jeep
safari. The hotel has a complete scuba diving operation on site
so setting up some dives was no problem, but Justin still needed
to take the basic dive training course. Getting that set up
proved to be more of a problem since there were very few students
on the waiting list. Eventually it all worked out for everyone to
do what they wanted, but it seemed like more of a struggle than
it should have been.
Our tour package included half board which means breakfast and
dinner were included. The food was mediocre at best. It all
looked really tasty, but most dishes lacked the spices to make
them really appealing. We eventually tried the
“expensive” alternative to the main dinning room by
eating at the so called Italian restaurant. Things were a little
better there, but the chef and the barman could spend some time
improving on their respective trades. Most likely the reason for
the dull food and weird mixed drinks is that Egyptians don't have
much experience with the tastes of European cuisines nor do they
consume alcoholic beverages being mostly Moslems. Whatever the
reason, the lack of alternatives to eating at the hotel doomed us
to a week of not so exciting dinning, but may have saved us from
gaining the usual holiday pounds.
Ryan and Greg spent most of the first half of the week
underwater, doing two dives a day while Justin did the diving
course and Lana lounged the beach and shopped the local tourist
traps located just outside the hotel entrance. Towards the end of
the week we managed to get in our jeep safari to have dinner and
ceremonial dance with a Bedouin family at their desert camp. The
Arabian desert is really dry. As previously mentioned, rain
happens only once every three or four years. Water comes from
hand dug wells that have existed for hundreds of years in some
places and each family has a well. The Bedouins exist by raising
stock, mostly goats and sheep. They sell the animals for money
and eat them for food. When the rain does come it usually happens
in November. It is intense and creates a flood that covers most
of the lower elevations so the families start moving up hill when
it starts. After the water subsides they move back to their
former camp and for a short time enjoy the desert bloom which
follows. It is a very basic, but tranquil existence. There are
few sounds, no machines except the occasional jeep and of course
the animals. The evening sky is filled with stars as there is no
artificial light to hide them and the air is very dry. Spending
an evening in this desert was a spiritual experience. It's not
difficult to understand how the ancient people could have come to
believe that the stars themselves were representations of gods
and goddesses.
The trip to Luxor was another early rising experience. Our tour
bus arrived punctually at 5AM so that we could rendezvous with
the other buses that would eventually form the daily tourist
convoy. Each convoy is escorted by well armed police for the
ninety mile transit through the rugged desert mountains from the
Red Sea coast to Luxor city on the Nile river. Luxor was known as
Thebes in ancient times, but the name was changed by the invading
Arabs who became the rulers of modern Egypt following the
disintegration of Roman rule and a brief period under the control
of the Coptic Christians. The city was the capital when Egypt was
in her golden period. The pharaohs of this period ruled both the
upper and lower Nile regions under one government. Egypt was for
a time the most powerful nation in what has become to be called
the Mid East. From about 2500 to 1000 BC the Egyptians produced
the now famous tombs, monuments, temples and pyramids. As with
many empires, ancient Egypt was overcome both by external
competition and internal corruption. The last bone fide royal,
Queen Cleopatra along with her Roman General lover, Mark Antony,
was defeated in a naval battle by the Romans at Actium in 31 AD.
Crossing over the Nile to the west bank, our first stop in Luxor
was the Valley of the Kings where many of the most powerful and
some of the least known royalty was buried. Archaeologists are
still probing this area for new tombs. We visited a couple of
those open to the public, but as we knew beforehand all of the
burial treasures had been removed to various museums. Only the
walls of the tombs themselves remain. On these are many
hieroglyphics. The figures and cartouches are faded, but after
five millenniums are still clearly visible. In general we were a
bit disappointed with the tombs. Even taking pictures of the
walls was generally forbidden and the rules were enforced by
photo nazis who seemed to be everywhere. Lana managed to take one
shot by flash which is strictly forbidden even with a camera
permit. If you are short on time visiting Luxor we recommend
skipping the Valley of the Kings.
The next stop was the partially restored temple of Hepsubshut,
the bogus queen ruler, who managed to take over the Egyptian
throne for thirty-one years by manoeuvring her young nephew out
of his pharaohship. Unwisely she didn't kill him, and when he
grew up returned to do her in and destroy most of her palace. The
remaining bits have been more or less used as part of a massive
restoration project which appears to be about eighty percent
finished.
Back to the east bank of the Nile we stopped for a lunch break at
a local hotel. We continued our tour with a visit to the temple
of Karnak. This site was built as a show place and worship
center. It contains many impressive monuments and the famous
obelisks which look like miniature Washington monuments or
perhaps the other way around. This temple and most of the other
ancient sites were completely covered with sand when first
discovered over a hundred years ago. Apparently they weren't of
much interest to the locals living nearby. Together with the
pyramids near Cairo they now help generate Egypt's second largest
source of income. The last stop on our tour was the temple of
Luxor. Not as large as Karnak but perhaps more intact, this ruin
contains massive stone columns. How the Egyptians managed to
create and transport such heavy items is still a wonder. Even
today erecting these structures would be a challenge requiring
the assistance of powerful cranes and other heavy construction
gear. It is said that Napoleon visited Luxor during his campaign
in Egypt and even set up his headquarters in this temple. To
think of all the famous persons who may have set foot in this
place makes one feel quite insignificant.
Following the long ride back to our hotel we get one last night's
rest before our departure. Egypt is a poor country by modern
standards, but rich in ways that money can't buy. We found
without exception the people to be friendly and courteous, the
weather flawless, and the sights beyond compare. Egypt gets a
five star on the places we have visited.
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